Jimmy: Richie's story
by Saturn's Hikari
Summary: After the school shooting, all the kids involved talked with the school psychiatrist. "Everyone went, but I'm the only one who's been here twice." Second chapter up.
1. First

Ahh! Just saw "Jimmy" for the first time this morning. I LOVE it. Richie angstall the way. So, worked on "Holding On." a bit, But my brain really couldn't let this go. Kept bugging me all morning. So here's the first chapter and hopefully I'll be putting out more real soon. Please review.

Question: Are Author's notes better at the end or beginning of chapters? Anyone know how to keep first line indents when posting?

Cheers;  
Saturn's Hikari

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For the Second Time

* * *

"Hello, Richard." She smiled at me.

School psychiatrist. Everyone had to do this. Virgil and Frieda went. Nick and his cronies, too, before their suspension. But I'm the only one that's been here twice. Everyone else just came once and they were fine. But I'm back again. Just because, you know, I had a traumatic experience.

I gave a lopsided grin back. "It's Richie, remember. Only teachers call me Richard."

I sank into the seat, and rested my crutches against the table. Crutches are fun for about the first day. Swinging around and crutching along, it's all good. Then they get annoying. And tiring. That crutch, swing step rhythmic seems embedded in my brain. Plant the crutches; swing your leg, step. Plant the crutches swing your leg, step. I think that's driving me insane more than anything.

"How are you doing, Richie?" She's a nice looking lady, would have to be though, if she wants to help kids with "traumatic experiences."

"Hunky Dory Crutches are evil, though. Maybe they're a form of cruel and unusual punishment." That would make sense.

Evil doctors must have weekly meetings. "Now instead of confining victims to beds, we must left them go free." Boo hiss. "But wait. What's this? No, we can hobble them. Give a taste of true freedom and hold it out of reach. No more running or jumping, basketball. Dependant on others for carrying books- even when it's only their leg that's broken! I give you- the crutch!" I grin at my imaginary evil maniacs.

She frowns though, and fixes the glasses on her nose. "Do you think you are being punished, Richie?"

"What? No- I just meant the crutches. They're, you know, evil."

She stares at me, doesn't believe it. I hate psychiatrists- always looking for deeper meanings. Maybe I just hate crutches. Or…

"Ok, yeah. Maybe I didn't deserve a bullet in the leg, but I mean- I knew Jimmy wasn't quite right and bullied, but I didn't do anything. I didn't stop it."

She nods and I go on.

"He, Jimmy, he didn't seem… he didn't stand up for himself…. He just…I don't know."

She nodded at me- maybe nodding's a job requirement-and folded her hands. "After Jimmy was shoved in the locker, you went to see him. Did Virgil go with you?"

I looked away. There's something I regret. If only V had come along. "No, I didn't tell him."

"Why not?"

"He would have wanted to come. And Virgil..." I grin, just his name makes me smile.

"Virgil's my best friend. We can have fun doing anything, everything. So I figured if he came along… I'd I know be more with him, than just hanging with Jimmy. Jimmy and me watched some sci-fi movies, ate pizza and then I went home."

"He didn't mention anything about a gun?"

I looked down at my leg, scribbled over with signs and well wishers. There's a big caricature of himself that Virgil did, yesterday in study hall. Daisy had drawn some flowers, written 'get well soon.' Same as Frieda, hers was in a heart, though. Random people I didn't even know asked at sign my cast. Everyone that was there when Jimmy had-.. All their names are there. Almost half the school's. But Jimmy's. Jimmy's wasn't there.

"Yeah," I said. "He did mention a gun."

-

"_You cannot think that was a good movie. The graphics were horrible. I could see the zippers on every costume." Jimmy said, around his mouthful of pizza._

_I grinned back at him, proudly pleased. Jimmy wasn't that bad. He was quiet and all, but once he got going, he wasn't bad. If only everything in life could be sci-fi._

"_That's the whole point." I said. "Sci-fi movies aren't suppose to be good. It's the perfect bad movie."_

_He sighed and a grabbed another slice. We'd eaten that and chips and soda, but Mrs. Osgood didn't seem mind. She must be happy Jimmy has a friend over. "Those lasers were cool, though."_

"_Yeah. Pleeezzz. Captain…. We've ….sighted another. Pleezzz Pleezzz." I pantomimed jumping behind the couch shooting at aliens. "Arghh. I've… been… hit. Tell… her…. I loved… her."_

_I collapsed eagle spread on Jimmy's carpet and my tongue rolled out for good measure._

_Jimmy laughed and I pulled myself up. Score one for Richie. That was the first time I'd gotten him to laugh._

"_Imagine- imagine doing that," he forced out between laughs. "Doing that to Nick."_

_The smile dropped off my face._

_He wanted to shoot Nick? With a gun? Kill him. He couldn't want to do that, would he? My mind flashed back to all the times Jimmy been bullied. Study hall. Gym. Outside school. Community center. Shoved in a locker. It seemed a day hadn't gone by when he wasn't picked on. _

_But, could he really want to kill them?_

_Jimmy stared at me, his own eyes wide in a reflection off my own and the pizza he held dropped back to his plate. He seemed to realize what he'd said. _

_I waited for the explanation- the stammered 'I really didn't mean it, just a joke, not very funny, you know…_

_It didn't come._

"_Uh. Jimmy." I started. "you… didn't mean that you want to kill them, right?"_

_He sighs, relieved. "No."_

_I nodded, it was just a bad joke- a really bad joke, and dug into my pizza, again. I missed the rest of his sentence, though._

"…_.Just teach them a lesson."_

-

She stared at me, when I finished, and I know my hands are shaking. Stupid. But I could have stopped it. I could have told, could have… Could'a; would'a; should'a;

Stupid Richie.

"I'd like to see again tomorrow, Richie. Do you have a study hall?" She says, helping me with my crutches.

"I don't have gym." Not with my evil crutches.

"Alright. I'd like you to come then."

I nod and crutch my way out the door. Here we go again.


	2. Second

Wow! It's been forever. I'm really sorry about this taking so long, about a month ago I'd promised **tobiasdomink** to have the next chapter out in a week. As you can see, that didn't go too well. On the plus side, I made five batches of sugar cookies just in time for April schoolbreak. Real life's just been...hectic and I haven't had the time, and frankly the modivation for most of my fics, like this one. But I wrote it, and I like it. 

So here it is. Thanks for support from:** leev, Nikana, LaBOBuren, Webkistune, The Original Marisa, Snake Mistress** and **Estel Baggins**. Please review!

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**Jimmy: Richie's Story  
**Chapter Two

* * *

"Hey Richie!" Virgil yelled, looking up at me from the basketball court below, ball under his arm. Sweaty happy Virgil couldn't be more at home playing a normal average cut-throat game of high school basketball. He grinned up at me as he added "Wanna shoot some hoops?" 

Everyone** stopped**.

His face crashed and I could see the thoughts form. 'Shit Virgil, you just had to open your big mouth. He has a bullet wound in his leg- duh he can't play hoops. Stupid." I couldn't let Virgil feel bad.

"Naw." I yelled back, forcing my face into a wide grin. "I'd feel too bad about beating you on crutches."

The guys all laughed and Virgil smiled as I waved down to him before hobbling on my way down the halls. I'd finally gotten the hang of these evil crutches. Swinging my wierght wasn't hard- it just took so long. Maybe I could put rockets on then end…

I snorted at myself, "yeah right Richie, I'm sure rockets on the end of wooden sticks is a great idea. Why don't you torch the whole school while you're at it."

'Shut up.' I thought. 'Virgil likes my inventions.'

'That's because that sheet thing was a good invention. This is not. This sucks.'

'Yeah, well, you suck.'

'Dumbass.'

Then I stopped, because, well... I'd just called myself a dumbass and not many people to that, and because I'd crutched into something.

A railing. To the stairs.

I stared at stairs. Sure, let's have the elevator break down and put the psychologist's office on the second floor. I don't mind. It's not like I have somewhere to be or that I hate school and have stupid horrible evil crutches that are just about the heaviest things on the planet and just came from a torture session with an crotchety old lady that enjoys her job waaay too much.

You can do this Richie.

Step down. Move the crutch down- carefully, because if it was on the edge I've be falling down the entire thing. And that would suck. Really **really** suck. About ten minutes past and I was down three steps. Only about five thousands left to go.

A sudden sound made me look up from my studious effort of getting down the stairs- if I put this kind of effort in school, my father would never rag on me again. I'd ha-

Virgil stood at the bottom, staring up at me. "Hey." he said, looking a bit down. Sad? Why? He held his books in one hand, an awful lot just for our next class. Shit! Math! I was gonna be so late.

"Hey yourself." I answered, shining him a smile before slowly concentrating on getting back down. Maybe if I went fast enough I could make to the end of Math.

"You know." He said, suddenly next to me. Stupid moving people with legs. You never realize how hard it is to move until there's a stupid cast that tells you you can't. Did I mention I hate these crutches? "I never thought you'd ever look like a kitten."

I stopped and stared at him. A kitten? A wimpy little weak kitten? Those things that went **meow**? I don't think I've ever been so insulted… "Dude, you think I look like a kitten? And here I thought you were my best bro."

He grinned at me, suddenly really close. He smelled good. Really good...

"I am, who else would do this?" And then he scooped me up.

Crutches and all, I was being carried down the stairs in the arms of my best friend. How whacked out could this get? How much more **girly **could I be, arms wrapped around his neck like some little kid? How much more **perfect** could this get?

I mean, I know I'm gay, gay and horrible fixated on one person. coughcoughVirgil coughcough

But he's…not... and if anyone saw him and me like this… like a married couple off to their honeymoon….I don't want to think about it. Even if he didn't like me, he's saved me- there I go again, like some weak damsel in distress. Just because I'm gay doesn't mean I can't whup ass! That fact that I'm a wimpy geek means I can't whup any ass.

I sighed and Virgil gave me this cute puzzled look. Virgil's my best friend, my almost brother, the guy I'm hoping to still hang with 92 years from now. I should at least warn him about the whole people-thinking-you're-gay-idea thing. Not that he would be really feeked out, but he doesn'y knows about me. I just… haven't gotten around to telling him.

Still, I should tell him about this, just so that he'll put me down before I start to purr or something. I opened my mouth and started "Ah….", but it went downhill from there, with him still looking at me with those puppy brown eyes and then his arm moved just a bit, so it was warm againest my bare skin and I almost **did** purr like a kitten.

I don't want to ruin this.

It's a moment, one of those ones you want a Kodak camera for, to burn it into your brain, and I know that I'm not ever gonna feel like this again. I think this is the closest we've been since I got sh- since Jimmy. Everyone'd been steering clear of me, giving me room, but too much room so that I was walking around wondering if I'd gotten a really gross zit or something that was making everyone back so far away. Funny, how I cursed these stupid crutches, but then forgot they're even there the next moment.

But right now, being carried down the school stairs by Virgil , these crutches aren't too bad. Not too bad at all.

* * *

What do you think about Richie's character? I'm not quite sure I got him right. 


End file.
